Holgorsen brings West Virginia into Big 12 as contender

Ex-Tech coordinator leads team picked to finish second in the conference in 2012

West Virginia head football coach Dana Holgorsen, a former Texas Tech assistant, speaks during Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday in Dallas. His Mountaineers are new to the conference, but they've been picked to finish behind only Oklahoma.

DALLAS — New member West Virginia might be a stranger to the Big 12 Conference, but its coach isn’t. With what Dana Holgorsen did at Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, and with what West Virginia has done lately, the Mountaineers aren’t coming into the Big 12 without fanfare.

In a league with six teams coming off double-digit wins, West Virginia is picked second in the Big 12 media preseason poll. Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith was voted Big 12 preseason offensive player of the year.

Even the Mountaineers seemed surprised to walk in and be picked ahead of everyone except Oklahoma.

“To have people think we’re that good is an honor,” center Joe Madsen said, “and we can’t wait to prove we belong there. It’s great respect that they would pick us that high.”

Well, aside from Smith the Mountaineers do return a pair of 1,000-yard receivers, their top two rushers, and they were last seen clobbering Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl. West Virginia went 10-3, its seventh year in a row to win at least nine games.

Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads spent eight years at WVU rival Pittsburgh and is no skeptic.

“They’ll come in and compete immediately,” Rhoads said. “I would expect them to come in and compete for a conference championship. They’re that level of program and always have been.”

Texas Tech will host West Virginia on Oct. 13 in Lubbock. Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said the Ohio-Pennsylvania recruiting corridor available to West Virginia — not to mention its regular forays into Florida — gives the Mountaineers the personnel to measure up.

“I’ve coached against them,” Tuberville said. “I know where they recruit. I know the type of players they get. They’ll bring as many athletes in this conference as we’ve seen, and we get as many (in the Big 12) as there are in the country. They’re going to really enhance the stature of our league.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Holgorsen says he never mentions the words “Big 12” in talking to his players. They can get all they want from newspapers, television and the internet, he said.

Madsen, who received all-Big East Conference accolades last year, said he was excited last October when word came that West Virginia was changing leagues.

“I can’t wait to play high-profile teams like this,” said Madsen, who paid attention to Texas while growing up in Ohio. “I’ve always watched them, and I’ve always wanted to play them. Now that I get the chance to, it’s going to be exciting.”

Holgorsen spent eight years under Mike Leach at Tech, two years at Houston with new Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin and a year at Oklahoma State under Mike Gundy. He was deeply involved in and then in charge of high-scoring offenses at each stop. Last year, his second at West Virginia and his first as a head coach, he led the Mountaineers to their third Big East title in five years.

Holgorsen purposely picked assistants who have worked in Big 12 country to ease the on-field transition. Offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh worked with him at Tech, and new defensive coordinator Joe DeForest spent the last 11 years at Oklahoma State. Two other assistants went to WVU from Stephen F. Austin and Tulsa.

And those long trips? The Mountaineers downplayed them.

“You’re going to jump on a plane and fly a couple of hours, no matter where you go,” Holgorsen said. “From there, it’s all about routine, so for us I don’t view it as a big deal.”

Holgorsen admits the travel has been a much talked about subject among fans. He pointed out that most Big 12 schools don’t allot many tickets for visiting teams anyway.

“So the days of being able to take 15,000, 20,000 people to different venues … those days don’t exist in the Big 12,” Holgorsen said, “because everybody’s the same way at home. Everybody packs their stadium and gives the opponent about 4,000 tickets.

“So my suggestion to the people of West Virginia is to make sure you come to every home game and then pick a road game and go travel once a year.”

Smith passed for 4,385 yards and 31 touchdowns last season. The 6-foot-3 senior from Miami said he’s put on about 10 pounds to get to 225. He returns top targets Tavon Austin (101 catches, 1,186 yards, eight touchdowns) and Stedman Bailey (72-1,279-12).

Asked what receivers from his Texas Tech days resembled Austin and Bailey, Holgorsen mentioned Nehemiah Glover and Wes Welker. The Mountaineers’ top pass catchers are similar in stature and shiftiness, he said.

They’ll have one of the country’s most-high profile quarterbacks throwing them the ball. Smith got the nod as the Big 12’s top quarterback over the likes of Kansas State’s Collin Klein and Oklahoma’s Landry Jones.

“I’m honored to be just mentioned amongst those guys,” Smith said. “I know a lot about them. I got a chance to meet Collin about two weeks ago down in Thibodeaux, La., at the Manning Camp. I haven’t actually had a conversation with Landry, but I’ve been following his career ever since he took over for Sam (Bradford).”

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

I'm not really that sure why the following paragraph belongs in the article, or even why the paragraph is positioned where it is within the article, but no doubt there is a purpose, implication or dig behind it:

"Perhaps surprisingly, Holgorsen says he never mentions
the words 'Big 12' in talking to his players. They can get
all they want from newspapers, television and the
internet, he said."

Dana and his players came across as very humble and clearly gave the impression at the event that they considered the Big 12 the big stage in comparison to the Big East of the last several years. But there are several ways to look at the "surprising" approach of Holgorsen.

First, the Big 12 only has 10 teams, so it could be confusing to some in the locker room. Second, they may not refer to the Big 12 because deep down they would rather be in the SEC where national championships occur like the wind in Lubbock. Third, as long as the Big 12 network prostrates itself before the Longhorn Network, all on the cusp of super-conferences developing, Dana may realize there is no long term interest in making their identity "Big 12" focused.

Unlike Gary Patterson using the term "Big 12" at least a thousand times a day, West Virginia doesn't have the near 100 year history with the Big 12 schools like the Frogs, so truly West Virginia is not just a geographical outsider, but also oddly placed in this conference in terms of player relationships, school histories and connections, rivalries, fan awareness and the like.

Given the conference shake-ups, perhaps that humble, one game at a time with whomever, whereever and in whatever conference is the best way to prepare players and condition their approach to these many new venues. I am still wondering why the DW threw this paragraph in the article? I think a real Tech guy, to be distinguished from a false loyalist or Hance kisser, would have thrown out some cool stats from Dana's time in Lubbock, a far better use of the space the above paragraph consumed.

Dana Holgerson"s team will be a real challenge for Tech this year, to say the least. Why is there no mention of Jim Carlen in this blog? Jim Carlen was a great coach here at Tech, and went 11 and 1 in 73, I remember his teams well, he was a great recruiter, and a Christian man, just like Leach he did not like to speak much at functions and the same type of politics that ran of Leach prevailed even back then., during Carlens time here. or why no mention of a great coach here???same old BS.

Dana Holgerson"s team will be a real challenge for Tech this year, to say the least. Why is there no mention of Jim Carlen in this blog? Jim Carlen was a great coach here at Tech, and went 11 and 1 in 73, I remember his teams well, he was a great recruiter, and a Christian man, just like Leach he did not like to speak much at functions and the same type of politics that ran of Leach prevailed even back then., during Carlens time here. or why no mention of a great coach here???same old BS.